Diabetic Coma (in DM Type I) News

FRIDAY, Oct. 14, 2016 – Aerobic exercise can benefit people with type 1 diabetes who are on insulin pumps, a small study suggests. The three-month study found that the six people with type 1 diabetes who did aerobic workouts had better blood sugar control, used less insulin and had fewer high blood sugar events than the seven who did no exercise. The study was published online Oct. 11 in the journal Cell Transplantation. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the body's immune system to attack the body's insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. People with type 1 diabetes are left with little to no insulin – a hormone necessary for the body to use the carbohydrates found in food. Because people with type 1 diabetes don't have enough insulin to meet the body's needs, they must take insulin multiple times a day. This can be done through multiple daily injections, or ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5, 2016 – Industry-funded researchers say they've developed a way to improve the accuracy of a standard diabetes test. "We think our approach will enable many patients and their doctors to do a better job controlling blood sugar levels and reduce the long-term risks of heart attack, stroke, blindness and kidney failure" associated with diabetes, said Dr. John Higgins, associate professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. At issue is the HbA1c test, also known as the A1c test, which is used to diagnose diabetes. It also identifies people with prediabetes and provides insight into how well blood sugar is controlled over a three-month period among those monitoring their disease. The A1c test "measures how much sugar a person's blood cells have soaked up since the time the cells were produced," Higgins said. "Before the test was available, patients and ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28, 2016 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first automated insulin delivery system – a so-called "artificial pancreas" – for people with type 1 diabetes. "This first-of-its-kind technology can provide people with type 1 diabetes greater freedom to live their lives without having to consistently and manually monitor baseline glucose levels and administer insulin," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release. The device – Medtronic's MiniMed 670G – is what's known as a hybrid closed-loop system. That means it monitors blood sugar and then delivers necessary background (also known as basal) insulin doses. The device will also shut off when blood sugar levels drop too low. However, this device isn't yet a fully automated artificial pancreas. People with type 1 ... Read more

FRIDAY, Dec. 18, 2015 – A new nasal spray might make rescue care easier for diabetics who are woozy or even unconscious due to severe low blood sugar, a new clinical trial suggests. The nasal spray contains powdered glucagon, a hormone that causes a prompt increase in blood sugar levels. The trial results showed that the nasal spray is nearly as effective in treating hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) as the only option currently available, a glucagon powder that must be mixed with water, drawn into a syringe and then injected into muscle. Because it is almost as effective but much easier to administer to an ailing person, the nasal spray could become the go-to treatment for severe hypoglycemia, said Dr. George Grunberger, a clinical professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit and president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. He was not involved ... Read more

FRIDAY, Nov. 13, 2015 – Although more than one million Americans have type 1 diabetes, most people don't understand the toll it can take on daily living. "It would be easier to tell you how diabetes doesn't affect my life," said Meri Schuhmacher-Jackson, a mother of four sons – three with type 1 diabetes. "Type 1 diabetes affects every aspect of our lives. It looks invisible from the outside. But, it's anything but invisible for us. There's a hamster running on a wheel in your brain all the time," she explained. November 14 is World Diabetes Day, an international campaign designed to raise awareness about diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body use the sugar in foods as fuel for the body and brain. Because the body can no ... Read more

THURSDAY, Sept. 17, 2015 – The latest trial of an artificial pancreas system offers good news for people with type 1 diabetes – the system lowered blood sugar levels without increasing the risk of dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), a new British study says. The testing, done at home by both adults and children, proved the system better than an insulin pump at managing diabetes, the researchers found. "This bigger outpatient, real-world trial shows that this potentially transformative therapy works for everyone. You can use it in the real world. And, it's safe. The number one thing is that it's safe," said Aaron Kowalski, vice president of research for JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). Kowalski wasn't directly involved in the research. However, JDRF has provided funding for this system, as well as other artificial pancreas systems, in development. An ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 19, 2015 – People with type 1 diabetes who use insulin pumps seem to have a much lower risk of dying from heart disease or stroke prematurely than those who rely on multiple daily injections of insulin, new research suggests. "As done in Sweden at the time of this study, insulin pump treatment almost halved cardiovascular mortality," said study author Dr. Isabelle Steineck, from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. The researchers found a 45 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease early for insulin pump users. And the risk of dying early from heart disease or stroke was 42 percent lower for insulin pump users, while the risk of all-cause death was 27 percent lower during the seven-year study period. Because this was only an observational study, the authors can't say for sure that insulin pumps lowered death risk during the study, although they did find a ... Read more

SATURDAY, Aug. 8, 2015 – Parents of children with diabetes need to plan how their child's condition will be managed while at school, experts say. "Diabetes is a disease that must be managed 24/7. Failure to do so can result in serious short- and long-term medical complications," Linda Siminerio, a certified diabetes educator and co-chair of the American Diabetes Association Safe at School Working Group, said in an association news release. "It's therefore imperative that every student with diabetes has a plan in place to meet their diabetes needs at school as well as off-site, during field trips and at all school-sponsored activities," she said. Before school starts, parents need to write and update diabetes care plans, meet with the school nurse and other school staff who will provide care, make sure the school has ample supplies, and familiarize themselves with federal and state laws ... Read more

MONDAY, July 20, 2015 – People with type 1 diabetes may face a greater risk of developing thinking and memory problems as they age compared to the general population, new research suggests. The study found that people with type 1 diabetes were 83 percent more likely to develop dementia as seniors. "Our study found a modestly higher risk of all-cause dementia in people with type 1 diabetes. The next step is to figure out what that means, and how we can help people with type 1 diabetes age successfully," said study author Rachel Whitmer, a senior scientist in the division of research at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif. However, Whitmer also noted that the study doesn't prove that type 1 diabetes caused dementia, only that the two diseases were linked. "This is an observational study that shows association, not causation. We don't have tissue from these people's brains," she added. ... Read more

TUESDAY, April 21, 2015 – A growing number of American children and teens with type 1 diabetes are experiencing a life-threatening complication at the time of their diagnosis, a new study finds. Researchers say a lack of insurance may mean some children are getting diagnosed with type 1 late in its development, when serious complications can arise. The complication is called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which involves dangerously high blood sugar and substances in the blood called ketones. Patients with the condition can suffer long-term health damage. "DKA is characterized by hyperglycemia [elevated blood sugar levels] and ketonemia [elevated acid ketones], that when not buffered by the body will turn the blood acidic," explained one expert, Dr. Patricia Vuguin, a pediatric endocrinologist at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "Usual symptoms are vomiting, ... Read more